


Tilly Finds Out

by pigeonfeathers



Series: Knight At The Museum [8]
Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: KATM, Knight At The Museum, M/M, i love tilly, knightatthemuseum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 09:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13268544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigeonfeathers/pseuds/pigeonfeathers
Summary: It's been several months since Nicky and Lance started dating, and neither of them can still believe it, but they wouldn't change anything for the world. Well, okay, maybe some things.Featuring Nicky and Lance as a well established and sickeningly adorable couple, plus Tilly, who can't keep a secret to save her own life.Epilogue/Add-on to the Knight At The Museum series.





	Tilly Finds Out

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello, long time no speak! I did plan on posting this like months ago, but life got very busy all of a sudden and I've had the story and my AO3 open in my tabs for like 5 months and not gotten anywhere with it lmao, how I love executive dysfunction :p 
> 
> Anyway! This is the last of the KATM series I've written, this is like an epilogue set a few months after they're together because you all deserve more of them being a couple and also I love Tilly and wanted to write more of her. 
> 
> This next bit is gonna be me rambling about the series coming to an end (for now) so feel free to skip lmao, I won't mind.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, and thank you to everyone reading this and everyone who's stuck with me as I set up the blog and started posting these stories, I'm so glad so many people have enjoyed it. I started the KATM universe because NATM has so much potential but needed so much more diversity, and it's also been so great to me that everything fits in with the films timeline as well as I'd planned, as on the blog they've now reached the 3 years later part of the 3rd film and they're all back in NY! 
> 
> The blog is going to be less active now, as I'm busy with real life things, and as they're in NY and moving on, and the blog was there for Nicky to write about coping in a different country, and for Lance to write about coping with existence, and they've both come so far and don't need the blog as much as they used to. I'm never going to delete it though, and it's still active atm so feel free to send them messages and interact, and go through the blog to find extra snippets about events mentioned in the fics!
> 
> I really wanted everything to link up with the films and for KATM to fill in the blanks, such as exploring Lance struggling with being fictional yet real which is honestly such an interesting concept to me, and it's worked out better than I could've hoped, so thank you for joining this journey with me. :-)
> 
> Now the planned series is all finished, I'm very much open to ideas for extra add-on fics! 
> 
> So, if there's anything you want to know more about in KATM that's been mentioned, such as times at the NY museum, more of Nicky's family life, Lance and the others in London after Larry left and before Nicky arrived, any character's you'd like explored more, just let me know in the comments and I hope to write some more KATM stuff based on what you folks want to read more of!! I'm so pleased with how much you've loved and accepted the OCs I've included in these stories and on the blog and it'd be great to explore those more!
> 
> Much love and thanks again, hope to speak to you again soon with some more KATM stuff! Happy new year!

Nicky was returning from getting a snack from the vending machine when a strong hand gripped his and pulled him down the corridor.

"I've got something to show you."

It was Lance, and as usual they were looking determined as they dragged Nicky along on the mysterious journey. 

"Alright," Nicky decided it was best not to ask. It didn't sound like he was approaching a disaster zone, so he relaxed a bit. He slid his fingers between Lance's, and they slowed down for a moment, smiling at him, before continuing their hurried pace. 

The two of them had been together for just under a month, and it hadn't been that hard to adjust from best friends who were pretty comfortable around each other, who fell asleep on each other and teased each other and told each other everything and sometimes fed each other food... well, Nicky supposed that they'd been acting kinda like a couple for a while anyway. But still, Lance sometimes forgot they could do the simplest things like hold hands, and they always looked so amazed when Nicky did so. In return, Nicky always had to bite his lip to stop his damn heart from rising up out of his throat; Lance always was so happy to be able to be with him, it made him feel so special and he usually played it cool or was tired but recently he'd just been smiling quite a lot. Which in turn made Lance smile back. There was a lot of smiling going on, and it was nice.

"Okay, here we go," Lance announced, not letting go of Nicky's hand for a second as they unlocked the door to the storeroom and led them both inside.

Lance often noticed things that others missed - Nicky remembered them taking him to the storeroom to look at a birds nest once - but if he was being honest, he couldn't see anything different about the room that night. A new stack of printing paper, that week's delivery of snacks in boxes for the vending machine that he occasionally 'borrowed' chocolate bars from... some old containers that exhibits had been in... it didn't look that interesting to him.

"So?" Nicky raised an eyebrow at Lance, who was already watching him with what looked like a sneaky grin on their face.

Lance let go of his hand, sadly, to shut the door behind them, then walked back over, standing closer than before, reached for his hand again, leant down and kissed the life out of him. Well, nearly. Lance had needed a bit of practice at first, but as Nicky had expected, they were naturally very good at it. Of course they were: handsome, strong, brave, greet at kissing, a good listener... it was ridiculous, really, and Lance still acted like Nicky had hung the moon in the sky or something when he was just your average lazy twenty-something. 

Lance pulled away after a minute, although the two of them kept chasing each other with small kisses for a while and laughing quietly with each other before really parting. Lance never looked perfect after being kissed, which always brought Nicky some satisfaction. They looked giddy and quite flushed and their lips were a little darker than usual, and they kept licking them which was really distracting.

"I thought this would be a good place to have some time together," Lance explained, looking triumphant already as they were very much having some time together. 

Nicky wrapped his arms around their neck to gently pull them down to close the distance between them. "Good idea, Lance," He told them, a quiet whisper between them, and this time Nicky initiated their kiss, pressing himself right up against his partner and hoping they could see how much it meant to him that they wanted to spend time with him, let alone special time together.

"I also thought," Lance started, and Nicky had pulled back but moved his arms down to their waist, sliding his hands under their shirt and smiling the tiniest bit when they completely stopped mid sentence, looking distracted. 

"You thought?" Nicky encouraged them, raising an eyebrow as he continued to lightly move his fingers along Lance's back, trying and failing to not look at mischievous as he felt.

"Oh, I, well, I thought we could go behind those crates," Lance ventured, looking over towards the cluster of large crates that recent exhibitions had been delivered in. Their hands were near Nicky’s neck and they absentmindedly stroked over some of the freckles above his jaw.

"Ooh, behind the crates, how romantic," Nicky replied, smiling at Lance to show them he was only teasing, and he kept an arm around Lance's waist as the made their way over.

 

Nicky was surprised to see a bundle of blankets in the middle of the wooden boxes, and belatedly realised they'd been organised specifically so there was a cosy nest in the middle of the crates, like a little hideaway or den. 

He shot Lance an inquisitive look. 

"My legs get tired from standing up too long," They told him, shifting their feet to prove their point. "Also, I thought it would be nice and cosy, like in the lounge, although the floor is kind of hard, but I think it'll be okay."

The two of them had often hung out in the staff lounge, talking and planning and watching movies and playing games, and recently they'd happily realised they could fit on the sofa a lot easier when one of them was on top of the other, often with some added entwined legs and making out and eventual dozing off.

Lance was shifting their weight from one leg to the other again, looking a little impatient.

"Come on you big baby," Nicky told them, squeezing their shoulder before sitting down on the blankets and patting the space next to him. There wasn't much you could do in a museum as far as surprise romantic things went, but this was really nice of Lance. Nicky was sure that he could come up with a date idea of his own to thank them, but in the meantime he was pretty certain that some making out would work well too.

"Did you just call me "baby"?" Lance asked, sitting down next to Nicky and taking off their beloved fuzzy slippers so they could nudge their feet against his.

Nicky shook his head, laughing quietly. "Would you like me to?" He pressed a gentle kiss against Lance's lips, then decided to skip the pretences and pulled the other to lie down with him, resting his head on their shoulder.

"Maybe?" Lance returned the favour and kissed him too, strong arms pulling Nicky against them as they cuddled together.

"Hmm..." Nicky thought for a moment, taking that time to press his toes up against the arch of Lance's foot, earning him a yelp. Lance was ridiculously ticklish, if you knew where to look, and Nicky couldn't help but take advantage of that sometimes. 

Lance took a hair tie from their wrist and put their hair up in a messy bun, grinning back at Nicky. They knew full well that Nicky thought they looked hot with their hair up. Even though they'd added a romantic element to their relationship, they were still best friends who teased each other. So, this was a challenge now. Which Nicky would win.

He shifted to move more on top of Lance, one arm going around their neck and the other reaching for their waist again. "C'mere," He started slowly, leaning down until their lips were ridiculously close and it was an effort to not just kiss them already. 

"Kiss me, baby."

"Okay, I actually do quite like that,"

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

Nicky was going to repeat his words, but then Lance brushed their fingers against his jaw and kissed him, and they weren't bothering to be coy this time, but they were still gentle, even when briefly biting his lip, and Nicky hoped to G-d they'd do that again. They did.

 

At first, their make out sessions had been kinda slow and cautious, Lance stopping to give Nicky a hopeful grin after doing anything, just to check that he was still happy and comfortable. Their care had meant a lot, but Nicky told them that he'd just say if he was uncomfortable, and he knew Lance would always listen. 

Over the last few weeks Lance had gotten more confident in what they were doing. They knew which spot on Nicky's neck to graze their teeth over, tickling him in a really good way. They knew to bypass his chest and start moving their gentle fingers over his ribs and stomach instead, and Nicky appreciated that they didn't make it a big deal at all and they were just glad to touch him anywhere he was happy with. They knew that Nicky always really liked it when they took their shirt off, especially when they were slow and teasing about it and Nicky just pulled it off himself and started mapping their chest with his hands and mouth, feeling the vibrations of Lance’s laughter under their skin. 

Lance was a great learner, though they still sometimes acted as though Nicky was an expert, when in reality he'd made out with maybe three people at the most and was by no means perfect at what he was doing, even though Lance repeatedly told him that he was. The two of them were both new to an actual, kinda serious relationship, new to figuring out how to go on dates during their limited time frames, and new to having a relationship when Nicky was technically at work all the time they spent together. 

It was working out pretty well though, Nicky thought, he wouldn't be complaining. He wasn't sure how long they'd been away from the others, but it had been long enough for him to lose his hoodie and for Lance to take off their cardigan and ball it up as a makeshift pillow. Nicky was spread out on top of Lance by now, legs on either side of them as he kissed along their jaw and down to their collarbone. Lance's hair was barely a ponytail, let alone tied up in a bun by this point, but this meant that Nicky could run his hands through it. 

“Gotta dye it again soon, if you want,” Nicky commented, knowing Lance got irritated when their hair started to fade and go more brown. Lance made a noise of agreement, brushing back Nicky’s own curly hair in order to kiss his cheek. It was gentle actions like that, and times when they would kiss his hand, which reminded him that however well his partner had adjusted to modern society, there was still a part of the chivalrous, romantic knight that had stayed with them. Neither of them minded that much. 

“You’re so handsome, you know,” Lance told him, tilting their head so they could quietly study him for a moment.

Nicky ducked his head, laughing a little. He still wasn’t used to so much adoration, even though Lance had always been so open and complementary since before they dated. “Mm, I didn’t know, you should say it again, maybe,”

This time, Lance chuckled, eyes crinkling at the corners as they smiled. “You’re extremely handsome and you should know it. Now you’re blushing too! Even better.” They brushed a thumb over Nicky’s cheek when he lifted his head, and he started to feel a little bashful, focusing his attention back on Lance as a distraction.

“Thanks, you too. About the looking good thing.” Even though they were both getting used to dating, Nicky still kinda sucked at responding to all the affection Lance sent his way. It made him feel like his whole being was swelling with love and he didn’t know what to do about it, so he just said the first thing that came into his head. Luckily, his boyfriend was used to his failures with communication and just thought it was cute. Lance laughed again, a really lovely sound of joy that Nicky couldn’t quite believe he’d made happen, and they twirled their fingers through Nicky’s curls. They seemed fascinated by his hair, and Nicky could say the same about Lance’s.

Lance’s hair could become matted, waves getting caught on each other, but a quick brush through and it was probably the softest hair Nicky had ever felt. He took advantage of that and tangled his fingers through the faded blond strands, smiling to himself against their neck as they groaned quietly when Nicky's nails scraped gently over their scalp. 

"That feel good, Lance?" Nicky murmured, and they only hummed in reply, sounding content, and Lance shifted around until their faces were close enough for them to lazily start kissing again. The other guy rarely kept quiet for longer than a minute, so it always felt like a quiet success when Nicky had rendered them nearly speechless just through some real good kissing. 

 

“Finally found a way to shut you up,” Nicky told them, and even though he'd made the same obvious joke several times already during make-out sessions, Lance still chuckled in amusement. Then Lance's eyes closed as they put all their energy into kissing Nicky passionate enough to make him almost speechless too, and Nicky realised he must be pretty lost if he was thinking about how beautiful those eyelashes were. He'd been in deep for a while, and he didn't much care if he was just going to get pulled in deeper. Lance wasn't bothered either, if their sounds of appreciation at Nicky lightly tugging on their hair were anything to go by. 

The two of them usually kept things pretty relaxed and slow, both content to kiss for a while, then nap, then give each other more kisses in between snacks. It fit in ridiculously easily into their usual habits, as though it'd always been bound to happen that things would get romantic between them. However, the last couple of days had been full of more mayhem than usual in the museum (a couple stone statues had been knocked over and there’d been a series of arguments about who was at fault). They'd forgotten to make time for just the two of them, and they'd both clearly missed it, if all their extremely eager kissing was anything to go by.

Nicky was just sliding a thumb under the belt of Lance's ridiculous hipster trousers, Lance spreading their hands over his lower back, thumbs brushing over his ribs, when a voice very near them spoke up.

"Uh, guys?" 

Oh, Tilly. Wait, Tilly, here? Now? Nicky untangled most of his limbs and kept his tongue back in his own mouth and looked up to see his bubbly blonde friend with her smartphone out. There was a moment where they all went still, then there was the unmistakable sound of a photo being taken on that smartphone and Nicky yelled her name, scrambling to stand up.

His friend seemed unperturbed by his sound of shock. "I knew you guys were together! Me and Ahk have totally won the bet, oh, and your dad is going to be so happy you've found someone, Nicky," Tilly was saying, tapping on her phone, then grinning over it at the two of them.

Nicky glanced at Lance, who was securing their hair back up in a bun with one hand, as though that would make them look any less dishevelled. He realised a moment too late that Tilly was intending to send a photo of him and Lance to his dad, and he started clambering over a crate to get to her.

"No, no, no, no, no, Tilly, no, seriously, that's not how my dad would want to find out," He reached out for her phone, but she just took a couple steps back and continued smiling.

"But you two look all cute, smooching each other and cuddling, aww," 

"No, no, please, no," Nicky repeated, finally free from the admittedly cosy crate hideout and striding towards his coworker and friend. He knew his curly hair would be messier than ever and his t-shirt was rumpled up and he’d lost his shoes and hoodie in the blankets, but he honestly didn't care. He probably didn't look much different from usual, if he was being honest.

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding." 

Nicky shot her A Look. 

"Kind of kidding." Tilly amended. "I'm going to keep the photo, we might make a scrapbook of memories for the museum and it wouldn't be the same without your first secret storage room make out,"

Nicky ran a hand through his hair, glad for his friend’s support but honestly wishing she could be a little less invested in her friends lives, just this once. "It's not our first, we've been together almost a month, Tilly."

"Oh, only a month? You know, you’re gonna need to tell me all about it, like when you first realised they were your knight in shining armour, when they realised you were their nerd in scruffy jeans..."

Nicky looked over at Lance for help, noticing that they were (sadly) now more clothed, and had put on Nicky’s hoodie, and he wasn't quite sure if it was an accident or not, but he was momentarily distracted by how cute it was that they were wearing his clothes.

"How do we look in the photo?" Lance asked, looking between Nicky and Tilly. As always, they had no shame and seemed quite proud to have been found kissing their boyfriend.

Tilly immediately turned the screen around to show Nicky the picture. It was kinda blurry, but you could easily see him with his hands all over Lance and the two of them kissing eagerly. 

"Hot." He replied honestly, then, knowing he had no chance of snatching the phone from Tilly's grip, he pressed the screen a few times and the photo was gone.

"Hey!" Tilly quickly moved the phone away from him and frowned as she saw it had been deleted. "Nicky!"

"Don't worry, I sent it to myself, it's not technically gone." He climbed back over the crates and pulled on Lance’s cardigan, pushing up the slightly-too-long sleeves and smiling a little smugly to himself. Most of Lance's clothes were things Nicky had given them, so while there was a couple-y element to it for them, he knew the others wouldn't be that bothered about noticing their clothing exchange. Not that there would be much chance of keeping things low-key now that Tilly knew.

"Send it back to me! I got a photo when Amy and one of the Brontë sisters kissed at that party, and when Amelia kissed Lance for that dare because she was certain they're a good kisser,"

"She said I was, too." Lance commented, looking pleased.

Nicky nudged him in the side. "I can vouch for that too, you know."

Lance smiled wider and shuffled nearer to him so they could take his hand in their own, kissing it softly. As always, Nicky could feel heat rising in his cheeks as it did whenever Lance did one of their old-timey romantic gestures, and he nudged them in the side bashfully, the two of them caught in each other’s gaze.

"Nicky," Tilly was pouting now. "I even took a selfie when Amelia kissed me, too! I want to collect every memory I can from this museum, you never know when things will change,"

"Tilly?" 

"Yeah?"

"Don't ask again or I'm kinkshaming."

Tilly made a disgruntled noise but then gave him a thumbs up in agreement, walking back out of the room. 

"Don't go telling everyone either!" Nicky called out after her, and she gave him another thumbs up but he could tell this one was less sincere. She'd probably go and immediately tell Queen Mary or Amy, hopefully she'd wait before talking to Ahk as he'd definitely tell his dad, and Nicky wasn't entirely sure what his dad's reaction would be. It’d taken his dad long enough to get his head around dating a member of the museum himself, and he knew it was complicated, especially when it was long distance.

"Maybe we should post the photo on our blog," Lance started musing, stopping themself when they saw Nicky looking entirely unamused.

"Don't you dare."

Lance started chuckling. "I'm just kidding, Nicky, the internet doesn't need to know every detail of our lives, even if it might want to."

"We have ten followers." Now Nicky was laughing, squeezing Lance's hand.

"One day our blog will get famous, just you wait!" They stood up to dramatically make their point and Nicky watched them fondly.

"Well, you're already famous to me." 

Lance kissed him for that one. It went on for a while before Lance could reply to him. "That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me."

"What about that time I told you I loved you?" The two of them kissed again briefly, before parting and Nicky motioned for them to start collecting up the blankets with the intent of returning back to the staff lounge. He didn't want to give Tilly the chance of returning to capture another photo for her future scrapbook.

"Oh, when I told you the first time and you said, and I quote, 'shit dude, me too'?"

"No, when I said it properly afterwards."

"Well, that's the nicest thing, then, I'm pretty sure." 

"And you just said "I know" in response. Talk about rejection."

Lance dropped their blankets to wrap their arms around Nicky and nuzzle their head against his neck, likely in apology, but also possibly because they just really wanted to hug him. "I was doing a Han Solo! A Star Wars thing! I thought you'd like that."

"I did." Nicky told them, dropping his act of being annoyed to put his free arm around his partner in return.

"Nicky, I love you." Lance told him sincerely, kissing him on the cheek.

"I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Btw, Lance is fine with the term 'guys' including them, so don't worry, Tilly isn't misgendering them!
> 
> Also the word count for the fic is 3669, haha. [Nicky voice] Nice.
> 
> Your feedback is much appreciated and please let me know more scenarios or mentioned events or characters that you'd like explored further in future KATM fic add-ons!


End file.
